Grand National 2025 tips: AP McCoy, JP McManus and Ed Chamberlin reveal their picks

AP McMcoy and JP McManus are both backing I Am Maximus to win the 2025 Grand National on Saturday.

The full list of runners and riders has been confirmed ahead of the main race at Aintree, which starts at 4pm BST.

I Am Maximus was a 7-1 joint favourite last year and stormed clear to win the 2024 Grand National by seven and a half lengths.

The Willie Mullins-trained horse, owned by McManus, is looking for back-to-back Grand National wins this Saturday, a feat only achieved by Red Rum and Tiger Roll.

McManus has a total of five horses running in the Grand National this year – I Am Maximus, Chantry House, Perceval Legallois, Iroko and Meetingofthewaters.

But the three-time Grand National-winning owner is tipping I Am Maximus – currently priced as the favourite at 6-1 by bookmakers – for a consecutive victory.

‘We’ve got a few with chances but I think I Am Maximus has the best chance; he’s proven,’ McManus told The Telegraph.

Meanwhile, Sir AP McCoy, who won the iconic race with Don’t Push It in 2010, is also favouring I Am Maximus to secure a second successive Grand National win.

‘It’s boring but he’s currently about 12/1 and he’s been trained for one race all year by Willie Mullins,’ McCoy said at the The Ivy Liverpool’s launch event this week.

Meanwhile, ITV presenter Ed Chamberlin, is backing another McManus-owned horse – Perceval Legallois – to spring a surprise.

‘The man with the key to it all is Gavin Cromwell, the trainer of the season,’ Chamberlin wrote in his column for MailOnline.

‘My admiration for him is huge and he is looking to join a select group who have won the Gold Cup and Grand National in the same year after Inothewayurthinkin scooted clear at Cheltenham last month.

‘Cromwell could have run Inothewayurthinkin but instead saddles three: Stumptown, Vanillier and my fancy, Perceval Legallois, who has been targeted at the Grand National since he won impressively at Leopardstown over Christmas.

‘The vibes are strong for him and you can be sure he will be in the mix. A bold show from Vanillier, who comes to Aintree in the form of his life, is not out of the question. He was second two years ago before disappointing 12 months ago but he ran well at Cheltenham last month.’

Also speaking to The Telegraph, Bob Champion, the winning jockey on Aldaniti in 1981, revealed his pick: ‘Stumptown, jumps, stays and will keep galloping.’

Meanwhile, ITV commentator Richard Hoiles, is backing Vanillier to go close.

‘Runner-up two seasons ago, he was unlucky at Cheltenham when his rider nearly took the wrong course,’ he told the Horse and Hound. ‘Seemed livened up then by headgear and can again go close.’

Elsewhere, ITV Racing presenter Alice Plunkett has picked Beauport as her each-way tip: ‘Named after the beach in Jersey which is adjacent to the Corbiere lighthouse. The same owners won the race in 1983 with Corbiere.’

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